All the Little People

My dad told me about this blog called The Assembling of the Church and I read it from time to time. Anyway, the most recent post, Building Something that Lasts, talked about how the church should "focus on building into the lives of people" rather than it making sure the organization lasts. One line from the post stood out to me:

"many believers and churches are spending time, energy, and resources to make sure that the organization (whatever they call themselves, however they are organized, whatever their creed or confession, wherever they meet) continues after the people are gone. They are building into an organization"

The focus is often on making sure that building with the stained-glass windows is full of people. It doesn't matter who the people are cause people are gonna come and go, just as long as the pews are full. That could be one reason why so many churches advertise so much. That way their name can "continue to exist." hmmm....

That may be a little harsh... but it sure makes you think.

I really like what this guy said at the end of his post, about how the church continues to exist through the lives of PEOPLE, not through organizations.

The church is about relationships.

Just thinking out loud....
~MJ~

Scripts are for Movies

Have you ever noticed how we Christians often write out a script for so much of what we do? Most church services are completely planned out, many down to the minute. "This is the part of our service when we do this..." Worship time, greeting time, preaching time, prayer time, closing song.. etc. Sermons are almost always drafted in advance. The worship songs are picked out in advance. Heck, we even script out our salvation prayers! "Repeat after me..." Where in the Bible does it say you have to pray a prayer to be saved? It just says people "believed." I doubt Paul led them in a special salvation prayer. :)

Where did we get all of this? When did we change from a "spirit-led body" to a "scripted out program"? Why?

Life in May

Its been a while since I've written anything on here, sorry about that.

So I'm getting ready to move back to Tomball for the summer! Most of my stuff has already been moved. The first weekend in June I will pack the remainder of my gear and head out to our farm for a weekend with Ashley and friends for her bachelorette party. That Sunday I will drive home.

Summer plans... find a job, roommate and apartment in Houston. Get signed up for all my classes at UH. Read alot. And have fun!!!!!!!

Oh, one of my coworkers asked me what I thought of Hebrews 6:1-6. We talked about it for a while and I decided I want to hear what other people think. Any thoughts?

Joyfully!
~MW~

A Penny for Your Thoughts

"Go therefore and make disciples out of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things tha tI have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20

"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My Name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up deadly serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover." Mark 16:15-18



What does this mean for you?
What different roles can this command bring about?
How does the Great Commission take form in your life?
Where is your place in the Great Commission?


Give me some thoughts and ideas... you don't have to answer this personally. General answers are great.

Missyroo

Where Does God Speak to You?

Obviously God can speak to anyone, anytime, any place, but sometimes there is one special place where I find I hear Him best. Some place where I am free to hear Him, where I am completely at ease. Someplace with few distractions. A place I can go to pour out my heart to God and not worry about being interrupted. Larry told me his special place is on the lawn mower. I realized last week that my special place is in my car. Driving alone. I can recall easily many times where God spoke to me, comforted me, delighted me, etc... while I was driving alone in my car. I have also gone for drives for the specific purpose of hearing Him because for some reason, it just helps...

Where does God speak to you?

~MW~

Audition and other UH stuff

Well, I took the theory placement test Saturday and I'm sure I bombed it. I am planning to study for it and take it again in May. The stuff on the test was all information I have learned but just forgot. I would really like to NOT take theory IV again. So I will try again...

The Audition on the other hand, went very well. I felt like I could not have played my two songs much better. One was pretty much flawless. So for a theory major, I feel like I have a good chance of getting in. But I don't know how competetive it is so we'll just have to see...

I am expecting two letters in the mail over the next month I guess. One from the Moore's school of Music and one from UH. Those two letter will decide whether I go to UH or not. :) I'll keep you posted!

~MW~

University of Houston

Ok, so a little history. Over the last several months(even before I came to SA) I started coming to peace with getting a bachelors degree in music. I had always disregarded the option because...well I don't know. I was scared? Burned out of school? Two more years seemed like forever... :) But finally I started seeing the sense in getting a BA and God actually started getting me really excited about it. Now I REALLY want to get it. I can't wait to spend two full years studying more music. I think I just got burned out with all my non-music classes at Tomball. :) But anyway, I planned to spend a year in SA and then go to UH for a bachelors in Music Theory. However, God may have other plans...

Over the last week and a half doors leading to University of Houston this FALL swung wide open and I felt like I should walk through and see where this leads. Yes, that is all very vague. :) Basically several things happened that resulted in me suddenly getting all my application stuf together and submitting everything in two days. I am audtioning for admission/scholarship(which probabaly won't happen because of various reasons) on Saturday at 1:30. Thankfully my two pieces do NOT have to be memorized. Since I'm using pianos belonging to other people my practice time is limited. I also have to take the Theory placement exam that morning at 10am. Please be praying for me. Pray that God's will be done.

IF... I get accepted and get a green light from God to go... I will be moving to Houston in June. But we will just have to see how things pan out.

UH is not cheap and I will be praying for LOTS of scholarships. :) Please pray with me on that. I know God can do it. I'm not worried about it.

It hit me today at work... I ACTUALLY APPLIED TO A REAL UNIVERSITY!!! I got all giddy. haha... I don't know why that is SO unreal to me. I am so EXTREMELY excited.

So anyway, thats my week. Crazy...

I love it.

A completely amazed and baffled
Missy

Piano for Me to Practice On

So yesterday I was on the phone with my mom while driving home from Hobby Lobby. We were talking about the many things involved with me going to University of Houston: when to go, roommates, scholarships, etc... and the topic came up about a possible audition. I would need to prepare a repertoire. However, the only piano I had to practice on was an upright 15 min away. Now an upright is better than nothing, but to really get prepared for an audition I would need a Grand Piano. The touch is so much different. So mom mentioned stopping by a lutheran church she remembered seeing nearby where I live. Funny thing... I was passing by that church that VERY moment. So I decided to stop by. :) I hung up with mom and told her I'd call her back in a few with the verdict. I walked inside of the building and was pleased to see a nice sized grand in the sanctuary. Then I walked into the "church offices" section and told the receptionist my dilemma and asked if the piano was ever available for me to practice on. She said she would call the music director. Funny thing... as soon as she dialed his number, he walked in! So I told him my story and he took me in to see the piano and we talked schedules. The result was that I could come most any day (mondays were best for both of us) and just see if the room was empty. I can use it anytime its free! Oh, and get this: He said he often gets calls for accompanying jobs that he can't fill because of schedules, so he asked if he could refer people to me. !!!!! I'm gonna start working up my sight reading skills. :)
So needless to say I was very excited to call mom back and tell all! Yay!

Thank you Jesus!


♫Missyroo♫

In between trips home...

I made my first trip home two weekends ago and it was a blast! It was so refreshing to see my family and friends again. Yes, we live in a world of communication but there is nothing like seeing a person face to face. And you can't hug over the phone. :) I will be home again March 5-7. I'm looking forward to seeing everybody again!

Work is going well. I got a raise a couple weeks ago! Yay! Thank you Jesus for favor! First paycheck with the raise comes Friday! Just in time to pay rent. :) Speaking of rent...
Our lease finishes up April 30th so we are in the process of looking for a new place to live. We want at least a 4 bedroom house. Please be praying for us as we search. A bigger driveway would be wonderful too. Parking is dreadful here. We would, however, like to stay in this general area. It is VERY ideal for our ministry since it is within walking distance of the 3 refugee apartment complexes. Its also 5 min away from Chick-fil-A. :) I will keep you updated on the house hunt...

Still no piano here. I'm having to play guitar and the guitar here has really old strings and the top one does not tune correctly because something on the neck is messed up. JC said I can borrow his old guitar so I will remember to bring it back with me next month. A friend/neighbor of Larry and Terry has a piano and I have played it once. I'm hoping to play it again tomorrow! Also, Billy and Cindy have a keyboard that I get to play whenever we have house church at their house.

I guess thats it for now. Thanks for your prayers!

~MW~

My February Newsletter

Second Month in San Antonio

A few days ago marked the one month aniversary of my stay in San Antonio. If I had to describe my first month in a few words I would say it has been: exciting, challenging, educational, and just plain good. It has been
Exciting because I love new things and this is a new place with new people and new things to do.
Challenging because I have left my favorite people in the world at at home and I really, really miss them. I miss my animals and piano too. :) Perhaps the hardest challenge for me was the request of one of my dearest friends to be her Maid of Honor and embracing that role knowing that I could not be there to do everything with her. However, I know the Lord has a plan and He is helping me to do my best over long distance.
Educational in that I am learning about living on my own, working with different people groups, working at Chick-fil-A, etc...
And it has been Good, because in everything that I have done, all the challenges I've been facing, and everything that has happened, God has been right there to walk me through it. He has taught me, held me, corrected me, and loved me. And He has given me such a peace that I really cannot complain about anything. :) I am so grateful for His grace and love.

I am well into February now and it is promising to be a VERY busy month. I have settled into a 30+ hour-a-week job and the XTI homework assignments are starting to pour in. :-) I have also begun building relationships with refugees and that requires time as well. This particular week will be especially busy because I am going HOME this weekend! I will have to get ahread on homework and chores so that I am not overwhlemed when I return on Sunday. I am up for the challenger though! This week also holds extra excitement because I will be able to visit with some friends who are in town on Wednesday and Thursday! I am very excited. I hope the Lord continues to bless me with these opportunities to hang out with dear friends from home.

XTI Stuff

We have been studying leadership and storying in our XTI class this month. Leadership, because every missionary is a leader, and storying, because stories perhaps the most effective way of transmitting the gospel(which would explain why Jesus used stories so much). :) One of the key things we have learned about leadership is "empowerment." Giving of yourself so as to build up others to do the calling of God. Basically what Jesus did with the disciples. He poured Himself into them and gave them authority so that they could carry on His ministry after He was gone. So we have been studying the different stategies and aspects of Jesus's leadership and it has been very enlightening.
As far as storying goes, I had already learned much of what we are doing in Uganda. I thoroughly enjoy doing stories though. Liz and I were assigned a story for Sunday house church and we loved every minute of our preparation and presentation. We learned so much because to tell a story you much KNOW it exptremely well. We delighted to dive deep into the word of God so that we could give a good story. It was a blast and we want to do it often.

In other news, I am getting to know the other XTI trainees now and I really enjoy hanging out with everybody. We had a game night a week ago and that helped everyone to grow closer. We have started to hang out on our own outside of XTI class and house church. We had Christina and Laura over for dinner and a movie a few nights ago and it was so much fun. We concluded the night with a pillow fight and all I have to say it, pillow fights are great relationship builders. :) It adds relaxation and fun to a relationship. Not that I expected to "not get along" with anybody here, its just always hard to get settled in to a new place where the relationship are already formed and you have to join in and find your place. So, all that to say, it is going nicely and I love the XTI group. :)

Refugee Stuff

When I last wrote to you I mentioned that I had been assigned to work with refugees from Myanmar. Last week I asked Larry if I could switch to Iraqis instead. When I return to Houston next year the plan is to begin working with the Iraqis there so I figured it would be logical to start working with them here. : ) Larry aggreed and I have begun building relationship with a family just recently arrived from Jordan(where they had been for 10 years after leaving Bagdad) They have 7 kids, one of whom is still in Iraq. The girls with them are Maymona(23), Delahl(20), Aesha(14), and Stephana(I think) she is 4 and the two boys are Mustafa(17) and Adjabuhti(2). I prbably misspelled a few of those. The parents names are Kalehd and Serera. I have only hung out with them 3 times but I have enjoyed my time with them immensely. I have become aqquatined with a few other iraqis in the complex as well and I look forward to the day when I know them all by name.

Hannah and I have become involved with an ESL(English as a second language) class that it taught in an apartment complex nearby. It is directed to Myanmar people. We met with the leaders two weeks ago and listened to them brainstorm. They had been doing this for a while but decided it was time for some more organization. They only expected about 8-9 people to come to their class the next week but amazingly, 25 burmese people showed up! Karen(the leader) was very overwhelmed at first but she adapted quickly and did a wonderful job of giving their lesson. Over the next few weeks we will be assessing each person to find where they are in the English education. Most barely speak a few words and many, it seems, are not interested in changing that. So it was very encouraging to see 25 people show up at the class Thursday. I look forward to learning from Karen and seeing these people become more comfortable in their new home here in the States.


♫ Please pray for me as I head home this weekend. It will be a busy weekend so pray for rest!
♫ Pray for me and my new Iraqi friends. Pray that I find favor with them and we become good friends!
♫ Pray for Larry and Terry as they teach us and mentor us( its a big job!)
♫ Pray that I find a piano or keyboard soon! I miss my music!
♫ I need a computer of my own so if you could pray about that too that would be awesome!

Thanks!

I wish to thank you all for reading this and keeping me in your prayers! I truely appreciate it!

Much Joy!
~Missy~

4119 Copano Bay
San Antonio, TX 78229

281-702-2355
serving_him_7@sbcglobal.net
missyroow.blogspot.com

Great Weekend and more

So, Jaye came to visit last weekend and we had a blast! We went and saw the San Jose Mission and Mission Concepcion. San Jose was fantastic. We loved it. Oh, and we ran into a guy wearing a Northside Falcons jersy, and it turns out he is on the team that Jaye's dad is coaching back in Conroe!! What a small world! :) On Sunday morning I went with Jaye to visit the church her sister and brother-in-law go to. The music was great. I miss that. Esp. at Breakaway. :( But it was good! I'm glad I got to go. We also watched two movies with Kristen Chenoweth. They were both hilarious. Love Kristen Chenowth. :) All-in-all it was a wonderfully refreshing weekend! I'm so glad she was able to come visit!

Chick-fil-A is going well. I'm getting quite comfortable in the kitchen. I don't have to ask about every little thing I do and I'm getting pretty fast at most everything. Well, fast in comparison to how I've been doing. :) Hahaha.... got my first paycheck the other day. Oh! Great little story... so rent was due a few days ago and I didn't have enough so I had to draw out of my savings. As I was leaving the bank I was talking to God and I said "Hey God, I could sure use a little cusion here with my finances. I have 50 bucks to live off of till my next paycheck. Maybe you could put it on somebodys heart to help support me?" and he was like "Missy, you have money in your savings." I replied, "Yea, God, I know that. But you know how much I hate taking money out of there. Besides I'm saving up for a keyboard and a laptop. Please?" :) I could just hear Him chuckling. haha... I left it at that. So the next day, I was setting up the ladder at work to get something off the top shelf and Mark walks by(hes an older gentleman who, I think? owns the chick fil a?) and hands me a $10 Target gift card and says, "this is for your outstanding work." I was like, "oh! Thank you!" :) I guess that was God's way of saying, hey, I hear you. I love you. I got you covered. :) I love Him. He's just too sweet. :)

OH! More news, I asked Larry and Terry if I could switch to working with Iraqi refugees instead of Burmese because when I come back to Houston next year I will be working primarily with Iraqis. So I've been visitng a new Iraqi family near by. I love them. The father is blind and they have 4 girls and 2 boys. The girls are 23, 20, 14, 4. And the boys are 17 and 2. They are just recently arrived from Jordan (they spent 10 years there after leaving Iraq). When I first met them they had only been in the States 4 days. They speak almost NO english so I'm always having to get a translator. So far its been great. I'm really excited to get to know them and others as the weeks go by. I love new friends!!!

Liz and I are telling the story for this coming house church meeting. Every week somebody else tells a story. We are going chronologically through the gospels(I might have said that already). Basically we are studying Jesus's leadership by looking at it from the disciples perspective. So Liz and I had this great idea of telling our story with one of us telling from Jesus's point of view and the other telling it from the disciples. We are both excited and can't wait to study tonight and practice. And then Tuesday Liz and I are telling another story for XTI class. I love storying!!! We did a bunch in Uganda and I loved it there too.

I guess thats all for now! Thanks so much for your prayers! Stay in touch!

Missyroo
serving_him_7@sbcglobal.net

More of This and That

So, I brought home about 20 biscuits and some minis bread today. Thats one thing I like about working at Chick-Fil-A. Free food. I get free lunch too. Unlimited drinks also(excluding lemonade).
Working there does get old though- doing the same thing over and over again every day. And Terry, a little hispanic lady who trained me and who is INVALUABLE in the kitchen is leaving after this week. Needless to say, I was mortified when I found out. And there was this other lady in the kitchen who was kinda the head lady(people went to her for everything, and she made sure everything ran smoothly) left this week. I think next week has the potential to be dreadful without Terry and Monica. I told Terry I would be lost without her. :( Makes me wonder why these awesome people are leaving. What is it that I haven't seen yet that made them quit? Terry told me it can get really bad around there. hmmm... scared yet? :) Lets just say, I'm keeping my eyes open for a better job(one that pays more, and doesn't require me to get up at Lord-have-mercy-on-my-soul hours. :) We'll see.

In other news, Rachel and I made this (actually we made several) really awesome video of a song. And, after Tuesday, when we show it to XTI(who its all about) we'll post it on facebook for all the world to marvel at. :) hahaha! Rachel is pure genius when inspiration is upon her. :)

umm.... what else can I bore you with? We're having an XTI game night on Saturday! Oh, and I'm going to lunch on Saturday with an old friend Sarah W. Lee. Yea, yea, you really don't want to hear every little detail about my life. :)

I've been reading My Upmost for His Highest most every day recently. Its really good. Lots of wisdom in that book. I highly recommend it if you don't read it everyday.

One of my coworkers went on a Teen Missions trip about 10 years ago! I thought that was cool. She went to Austria. I'm going to go there someday. I want to see the Spanish Riding school (Jaye and I have been planning that trip forever) and hear the Vienna Philharmonic. That would be so much fun.

Speaking of traveling, I recently decided that I would love to visit the Bedouin peoples of Saudi Arabia. They are famous for their Arabians. How fun would it be to go and meet some of them and their amazing horses? What an exciting idea!!

Ok, I guess thats all for now. :)

Missyroo

This and That

Well, I am in my second week at Chick-Fil-A. I work in the kitchen so I get to make food!!! I make the wraps everyday and generally about 60 (often more) Chicken Salad Sandwhiches. I also make coleslaw, carrot and Raisin Salad, chicken salad, fruit cups, and other salads. My favorite thing to do is fries during lunch time cause its SOOO crazy! I love it cause its almost like a game to keep the fry bin full of each size while making sure there are always more fries cooking. So fun. :) I'm getting pretty good at it. I do not, however, enjoy getting up at 5:45 every morning. I've managed to make it 6am now though. It only takes me 4-6 min to get there and I can get everything else done in the 25 min I have left. I don't eat breakfast cause I get my break around 10-11 and if I eat breakfast I won't be hungry then. BTW, I get free lunch! :) I like my coworkers. They are fun. I guess thats about it regarding Chick-fil-A.

San Antonio roads stink. They are a mess. Confusing as well as not very well kept. Oh well.

We are studying leadership in our Tuesday night XTI class. Reading through a book called Transforming Leadership by a guy whose name escapes me. Its pretty good so far. We're only through chapter 2 though. When we get further along I'll post something about what we're learning.

We're doing story-telling at Sunday night house church. Each one of us is going to get a turn leading the night. We'll tell a story then ask questions that provoke discussion. I haven't gone yet but hopefully soon. :) We're telling chronologically through gospels- following Jesus' ministry.

I haven't done alot of myanmar refugee stuff yet. We've visited some twice so hopefully it'll start picking up soon. The beginning of every relationship is slow(unless you are me and Ashley, or me and Jaye haha!) so I'm not worried. I'll post pictures and tell more as we get more involved.

Here's a little bit more about XTI:
Larry and Terry are the leaders.
They have 8 trainees under their coaching:
Shahram and Firoozeh (iranian couple)
Sam and Christina
Lizzie
Rachel
Hannah
ME!!! :)

All of them have been in XTI for nearly two years except for Hannah and I.

I'm going home to visit in February! Friday the 12th through Sunday the 14th. I'm really excited. Ashley and I are going wedding dress shopping!! I can't wait!

Thats all for now!

~MW~

On January 4th I finished packing(with the invaluable help of my family and friend Jerica) and headed to San Antonio. I have joined the cross-cultural training program headed by Larry and Terry Singletary -- Xtreme Teams International (XTI). Though I have already made a lengthy list of items that failed to get here I have settled in nicely into the XTI dorm. My roommates are wonderful and I look forward to some excited as well as educational adventures with them. I'm sharing a room with Hannah and though we have differing tastes in music(mainly regarding country) I think we will do well as roommates. :-) It will be a learning experience for both of us. Just to give yall an idea of what I'll be doing here... XTI's goal is to prepare individuals to follow God's calling. They have commited to assisting me in "reaching my peak potential in preperation for cross-cultural ministry" whether it be in the States or overseas. They have a class on Tuesday nights and house church on Sundays. Each trainee also has a one hour coaching/mentoring time with Larry and Terry each week. We will be building relationships with a certain people group here in San Antonio. We will focus on that people group and document what we learn so others can follow easily. I have been informed that Hannah and I will be working with Myanmar(Burmese) refugees. Larry will be introducing us to a family soon. I'm excited! As of now I know that there are both Buddhist and Muslem Burmse refuees here so I will be learning about both religons. I was hired at a Chick-fil-a just 5 minutes from our house this week. Thank you Jesus for providing it quickly and thank you for connections! A dear friends older sister who lives 10 minutes away manages the Chick-fil-a and hooked me up. :)Work starts this Monday at 6:30am! (oh my... so early...)Please pray for me as I: -endeavor to build relationships with the Myanmar people-start a new job-learn to live on my own-make new friendships-learn more of my Father's heartThank you all for your prayers! Love ~Missy~


Donations Accepted
Part of the XTI training is for me to build a support base of monthly supporters that walk beside me with prayer and financial aid, so that at the end of my training I may be able to at once dive into my calling, wherever that may be, with no financial hindrance. This money could also go to future missions trips. If you feel led to help me in this endeavor you can mail checks to:

Larry&Terry Singletary
6113 Sun Dial
San Antonio, TX 78238


My "agent number" is 221 so please notate on all forms of donation.
Thank you!

Contact Me:
Marissa Watkins
4119 Copano Bay
San Antonio, TX 78229
serving_him_7@sbcglobal.ne
t281-702-2355




XTI
Larry&Terry Singletary
xtremeteamsinternational@yahoo.com
6113 Sun Dial
San Antonio, TX 78238
(210)454-6466Mission Statement:Our mission, with the Holy Spirit as our recruiter, is to train through mentoring those He calls and connect them to their stategic role in completing the Great Commission.